Popular Melon Varieties

Sweet aroma that you will not confuse with any other, bright yellow color and juicy flesh - every gardener wants to grow beautiful melon in his garden bed. Currently there are more than 3000 varieties of this culture.Such an abundance of varieties contributed to the classification of species according to the principle of geolocation, and not on external features. It is worth considering in more detail what kind of melon can be grown in our country, what are their characteristics and what should be paid attention to when choosing a variety for planting.

A melon is a fruitful annual plant belonging to the Pumpkin family and grown on melon seedlings. It has liana-like shoots. One melon bush can “bring” from two to ten fruits per season. Melon belongs to the category of "false" berries. It has the shape of a ball or ellipse. The skin color is yellow, green, white or brown. On average, the fruit ripens in 3 months, although in some species, maturation can take almost six months.

For the first time, melon was grown as an agricultural crop in the countries of Central and Central Asia. She was elevated to the rank of an almost obligatory dish in any meal. It is believed that the most sugar melons come from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. The weight of the melon fruit can reach up to 20-25 kg. However, a record, a heavy melon, was a berry grown in the United States of America. Her weight was more than 100 kg. Now the cultivation of melons is everywhere. Where the climate does not allow to plant them in open ground, construct greenhouses and greenhouses.

Melon is an extremely tasty and healthy product. It does not cause allergic reactions, it can be given even to children who have reached the age of eight months. Melon - is a storehouse of vitamins and minerals. It can be used both in raw and in heat-treated form, for example, it makes tasty jam. Taste and flavor of melon, in general, apart from the competition.

The main differences between the various melon varieties are in the number and length of stems and shoots, in the form of leaves and fruits. The fruits themselves are very diverse in appearance and taste. They are large and small, round and elongated, with a smooth or uneven skin. The color of the melon can be perfectly even, and can have specks, stripes. The speed of ripening berries is another classification principle. Basically, it is necessary to focus on it when choosing a melon variety for planting on your personal plot.

A distinctive feature of European varieties is precocity. The ancestor of all these varieties is considered to be the Cantaloupe or Muskus variety. They are considered most suitable for cultivation in a cool climate. Such melons are ultra-ripening (ripen completely in 2 months), early ripening (ripening period is about 2.5 months), mid-ripening (ripening in about 3 months) and winter (3.5 months). It is worth considering which of the European varieties are recommended for planting in the Moscow region and Siberia. These regions were taken, as the climate near Moscow is an example of a milder climate, while the Siberian one is harsh and cold. With the help of this example, it is possible to understand which climate is more typical of a particular region of residence and, accordingly, select the appropriate melon variety for planting.

In the Moscow region, several varieties get acclimatized well.

• "Assol F1" has an average rate of fruit ripening. Berries are round, fragrant, juicy and sweet. They have a mass of not more than 1 kg.
• "Golden" is also of medium ripeness. Its shape is closer to the ellipse, fruits weighing up to 2 kg.
• "Early Sweet." This mid-season melon has a pronounced aroma and sugar taste. Yellow fruits are round. Weight is up to 3 kg.
• "Collective farm" is a variety of medium ripeness. Berries are presented in the form of a ball, yellow, white flesh. The taste is rich. Well kept.
• "Iroquois". This variety also belongs to mid-season.It is quite a hardy plant that can be planted even in more severe climates. The fruit gains weight up to 2 kg. The flesh has an orange color.

• "Scythian gold" is a very early variety. It is resistant to many diseases. The fruit weighs from 1 to 1.5 kg. The shape of the fruit is ellipse, the color is golden.
• "Charlotte" is a mid-season variety, with a very strong aroma and a sweet taste of pulp that has an orange color. Fruits reach a weight of 2 kg.
• “Pineapple” is a mid-season variety, so named because of the color “in diamond”, similar to pineapple. Ellipsoid berries are quite large (up to 3 kg). They are well tolerated storage and transportation.
• "Taman" refers to the early varieties. The fruits are in the form of an oval, smooth, variegated. Mass gain up to 1.5 kg.
• "Ethiopka" is a mid-season variety that has large pumpkin-shaped fruits weighing up to 4 kg. It tolerates transportation, is stored for a long time. This melon is famous for being self-pollinated. In general, this melon variety grows best in a southern, warm climate, but is quite suitable for growing in the middle lane - in greenhouse conditions, of course.

In general, all the above varieties are suitable for planting in open ground, and for greenhouse cultivation. The cooler the climate, the more precocious varieties should be chosen. The deadline for their collection will be August.

In the harsh Siberian climate and the same cold regions with a short summer, some melons can also take root.

• Barnaulka is an early maturing variety that tolerates moisture well. Fruit - smooth oval, gaining weight up to 1.5 kg. Crust slightly cracked, inside the orange-cream melon. The taste is not very sweet.
• "Hybrid". This variety also belongs to the fast ripening. It tolerates transportation, long storage. However, this option also does not have a sugar flavor.
• “Altai” in many respects reminds “Barnaulka”. Fruits, however, grow larger - 2 kg.
• Amber is a mid-season variety. Long, ellipsoid, cracked skin berries have a sweet taste and milky-colored flesh.

Asian varieties are divided into Central Asian and Asia Minor. Central Asian are typical varieties bred in Uzbekistan (Torpedo) and Turkmenistan (Turkmen). They are very tasty, sweet and juicy. However, these are very thermophilic crops, bearing fruit only in the southern climate with bright sunshine and high air temperatures. Central Asian melons are divided into several varieties.

They have a fruit ripening speed of about two months, but they get sick easily. They are undesirable to store or transport. Berry weight is up to 2 kg. The shape is a slightly flat ellipse or ball. The color of the peel is light yellow or greenish. The flesh is juicy, but not too sweet.

They have almost the same characteristics as early ripening. They are stored for long, during transportation quickly deteriorate. Yellow, variegated fruit. The average degree of sweetness of taste. The brightest representatives are Bukharka, Tashlaki and Assate.

They can be attributed to mid-ripening species, but they have been allocated in a separate subgroup for their amazing taste. All summer varieties are fragrant, honey, juicy melons with a milky color of flesh and creamy yellow or greenish skin. In the taste of these melons can be traced pineapple, vanilla and pear notes. They can be transported over fairly distant distances, and also stored for almost 3 months.These varieties belong to "Ameri", "Arbakesh".

They have a rather long aging period of 4–5 months. They tolerate the heat of both air and soil very well. Such melons are harvested when they reach the so-called technical ripeness - that is, when the fruit has ripened, but its seeds are not quite yet - and are put on ripening, maintaining high humidity (about 90%) and average air temperature (from 0 to +30 degrees Celsius). Autumn-winter melons, as a rule, rather large, have an ellipsoid shape. The color of the skin is brownish or green. Inside the melon is white, fleshy, sugar in taste. A prominent representative is the Gulaba variety.

Asia Minor varieties are small plants with small leaves that resemble a bud.

They are divided into two groups.

• Summer Kabassa is a medium early variety. The berries have the shape of a ball with a small “nipple” like that of a lemon. The skin is greenish-yellow. The taste is very sweet, and the flesh is tender, melting in the mouth. Among them it is worth mentioning the varieties “Honey Dew”, “Spotted Kabassa”.
• Winter cabassa is a variety related to later ones. They ripen after harvesting in storage. Storage conditions are identical to the autumn-winter varieties of the Central Asian group. These include “Golden Beauty”, “Honey Dew”, “Canari”.

Melons belonging to this species, most often have an unusual shape of the fruit, they love the heat and high humidity. But they cannot be called canteens - they have a taste that is either not very sweet, or, in general, bitter. As a rule, they are grown for medicinal purposes, as well as for the purpose of crossing with other varieties of melons to increase resistance to various diseases in the latter.

Exotic species include several varieties.

• Chinese melon. This plant with lianovidnymi stems and "pimply" leaves has three varieties.
  1. Small Melon ("Vietnamese"). Its fruits are rather small, only 200 grams. Oval shape, orange flesh, light yellow skin. It tastes very sweet.
  2. Silver melon, which is named so because of the grayish-yellow color of the skins. It tastes a bit like a cucumber. In China, this melon is grown as a vegetable.
  3. Blended melon. It has a ball-shaped fruit, with a smooth whitish surface, without cracks. The flesh has a dense texture and unsweetened taste.

• Cucumber melon. As the name implies, the fruits of this plant are similar to cucumbers. Taste, of course, they have a sweet.
• Wild melon. A plant with small carved leaves and small fruits, while the largest of them - no more than an apple. The taste is bitter-sour.
• Indian melon. It perfectly tolerates hot and dry climate, has such varieties as:
  1. field - with small, spherical berries of a greenish-white or cream shade, having a sweetish taste;
  2. vegetable - its fruits are similar to zucchini and have a sour taste.

When planting any kind of melon must be guided by the following rules:

• daytime air temperature should not fall below +21 degrees, night - below +16 degrees;
• optimal soil warming for planting and growing melons - from +20 to +22 degrees;
• air humidity should be no more than 60%, otherwise the plant will disappear;
• if you plant a melon in open ground, you should wait for the onset of stable heat, since sudden spring frosts can destroy it
• one should carefully select the variety - study the climatic features of the area in which the melon will be planted, as well as examine all the varieties, take root in this climate, determine where the plant will grow: in open ground or in the greenhouse, and only after that acquire seeds .

When choosing a melon variety, you should be guided by the following criteria:

• if the area of ​​residence is dominated by medium and low temperatures of air and soil, you should choose varieties with an early or average term of maturation of the fruit;
• when choosing a variety with a later date, it is best to grow seedlings in advance and plant them in the ground;
• buying seeds, you need to make sure that they are recommended for cultivation in the place of residence;
• it is worth buying them either in specialized stores or from gardeners who have long been engaged in the cultivation of melons and have received many good reviews about their products;
• if you want to independently collect seed from your own harvest, you should remember that the seeds should be allowed to “lie down” for 3 years; you cannot collect seeds and plant them the next year;
• melon ripeness - you should choose only early and middle ripening varieties; Of course, everyone wants to grow the “giant” in the garden, however, you should not get carried away - the “over-melted” melon can sour or rot;
• should pay attention to what was the gap between the ovary of the fetus and its full maturity, by the way, it is often written on the package with seeds, ideally it should be from 2 to 2.5 months.

Getting any crop is, above all, the efforts of the gardener. If you don’t be lazy and don’t hope that you’ll “grow by yourself”, you can get a wonderful harvest by providing the plants with proper care, feeding, watering and heating. And this applies not only to capricious melons - any plant responds to affection and care.

For information on planting melon seedlings, see the following video.